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NOT OT, Device for proning Covid pts developed, Need to get word out to Drs & Staff

J_R_Thiele

Stainless
Joined
Jan 22, 2003
Location
Columbia Missouri
NOT OT, Device for proning Covid pts developed, Need to get word out to Drs & Staff

Last spring, I became involved in a local makers group, Columbia Gadget Works (CGW).

We were asked to make a device to facilitate proning of Covid-19 patients- and we did. It was eventually unimaginatively named Roll-To-Prone.

The link below describes what occurred.

Local Makers Group Designs Proning Bed for COVID Patients - University of Missouri College of Engineering

Fortunately, we did not have the surge of patients initially anticipated, and we have not had the need for its use locally.

With the "second wave" occurring, this may change for us- and there may currently be a need elsewhere. It was always our intention to make the design available to others so facilities can build their own if they desire.

I am asking that those of you with connections to the medical community involved with hospitalized Covid patients pass on the links below and let people know that the device and design exists, and they can build one if they desire.

The information is mostly the same in both sites, but the Google drive site will be less intimidating to some.

GitHub - ColumbiaGadgetWorks/RollToProne: Hack Covid 19 Proning Bed project. This link is to our Github site.

Roll To Prone - Google Drive This is to our Google Drive

Columbia Gadget Works is in an unusual situation. We are a small nonprofit group of volunteers who responded to a request during a national emergency. We are not a manufacturer of medical devices- or anything else, nor are we a healthcare or research facility. We simply want to let others know of the design, provide the information we have and let them proceed as they see fit.

The Columbia Gadget Works Roll-To-Prone is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Share Alike 4.0 International license. This license grants the use of our design so long as it is identified as our design, or a modification of it.
 
A device like that all ready exists. It's called a rotaprone, my mother in law was in one for 3 weeks 5 years ago. She had pneumonia and made a full recovery she had horrible bedsores that scarred badly on her cheeks and toes of all places but she made a full recovery.
 
Great effort!

Likely, such devices will be relegated to the "great idea" warehouse along with all the respirators.

The flu only need so much heavy equipment.
 
Likely, such devices will be relegated to the "great idea" warehouse along with all the respirators.
No, the ventilators were in use early on, before you had 200,000 dead people to experiment on. As knowledge progressed, it was found that earlier oxygenation along with proning was a better method of dealing with the disease. Kinda like a Fanuc 31 works better than a 6.

Of course there already are (medically-priced) proning devices. But if a hospital can get a local machine shop to bang out ten for much less money, that's a win. It's a bed, shouldn't need FDA approval.

This is a nice deal by these people. At least some humans are thankful. Gracias.
 
The Rotaprone is a bed that pronates patients- but you need one for each patient, and good luck finding enough of them when you need them.

The design we came up with can go from bed to bed, so it is not limited to one patient, room or unit.
It is not a bed. Its more of an accessory to a bed. Kind of like having power feed on a manual machine. Its an easier and more efficient way of doing what you were doing before.

One of the early questions we got from the staff was if we planned on putting motor on it. It could be done, but with a clear increase in complexity and risk. Not a course we wanted to take. We wanted something that could be easily made and used, and did not require any special supplies.
 
So if you currently work for a manuf of these....look out, your job is under attack by "volunteers" that think you make too much money, and will ruin your business....great job hackers.
 
So if you currently work for a manuf of these....look out, your job is under attack by "volunteers" that think you make too much money, and will ruin your business....great job hackers.

The penny finally drops - digger is in the coal oil lamp biz and wants to ban competition...

Sorry, too late.

PDW
 
200,000 dead, lol. I guess rounding up is part of math, after all. But then, if you subtract the people who were hit by buses and trains, you're down to about 100,000 deaths. Then, subtract the people with at Stage IV cancer and cardiac arrest and acute diabetes and you're down to about 25,000. Then subtract the people who were over 90 years of age and you're down to about 5,000.
 
200,000 dead, lol. I guess rounding up is part of math, after all. But then, if you subtract the people who were hit by buses and trains, you're down to about 100,000 deaths. Then, subtract the people with at Stage IV cancer and cardiac arrest and acute diabetes and you're down to about 25,000. Then subtract the people who were over 90 years of age and you're down to about 5,000.

Wait a minute here

What about the 250,000 deaths each year by medical malpractice?

"A Johns Hopkins University study covering eight years of data found there are at least 250,000 malpractice deaths in the U.S. annually. CNBC reports the Johns Hopkins University study presents malpractice deaths on the low end, since other studies show malpractice deaths exceeding 400,000 a year."

How many lives could be saved and improved if it was illegal to put High Fructose Corn Syrup in our food?
 
I find it very upsetting that people keep dying when we, as a society, have been very clear that we no longer will accept racism, gayism, or death.
 
digger doug

We were asked to come up with something because there was NOT anything available on the market.

GregSY

Yes, they have "counted" deaths that were not caused by Covid.
Yes, if you have some pre-existing conditions, you are at higher risk.

The condition that precedes all death, is life.
One hundred percent of us are going to die. We can be certain of that.
What we do not know is when, and in what circumstances. Those things do make a difference.
 
I find it very upsetting that people keep dying when we, as a society, have been very clear that we no longer will accept racism, gayism, or death.

You've got it backwards.

Since life is a terminal STD, they're trying to eliminate it.
 
The discipline on PM is decaying at a drastic rate. Shows how much the sanctions - or threat of sanctions - keeps discipline up.

The guy wrote in good faith, with an idea that might save lives. Perhaps focus on helping the guy, rather than trying to slip in our own poltiical views, or digs at others whose views differ from yours? The "sly" comment you slip into your post is not convincing anybody of anything. Keep it focused on machining, guys. The site will be more useful.

In a more normal time, the guys you are trolling are people that have helped you, or who know what they're doing and have helped others. I'm really getting tired of people who view the world as comprising people who think exactly like them, and people who are wrong. Suggest that folks reorient their thinking and recognize that they're addressing a group with considerable expertise. Veering into political or pseudo-scientific rants doesn't add anything.

I do wonder if the new owners thought that they could buy this site and then not do an admin work to keep its quality up.
 
A device like that all ready exists. It's called a rotaprone, my mother in law was in one for 3 weeks 5 years ago. She had pneumonia and made a full recovery she had horrible bedsores that scarred badly on her cheeks and toes of all places but she made a full recovery.

It seems the modern medical community has forgotten much. They used to use natural sheepskin (with the wool on) to prevent bedsores.
 
The discipline on PM is decaying at a drastic rate. Shows how much the sanctions - or threat of sanctions - keeps discipline up.

The guy wrote in good faith, with an idea that might save lives. Perhaps focus on helping the guy, rather than trying to slip in our own poltiical views, or digs at others whose views differ from yours? The "sly" comment you slip into your post is not convincing anybody of anything. Keep it focused on machining, guys. The site will be more useful.

In a more normal time, the guys you are trolling are people that have helped you, or who know what they're doing and have helped others. I'm really getting tired of people who view the world as comprising people who think exactly like them, and people who are wrong. Suggest that folks reorient their thinking and recognize that they're addressing a group with considerable expertise. Veering into political or pseudo-scientific rants doesn't add anything.

I do wonder if the new owners thought that they could buy this site and then not do an admin work to keep its quality up.

Agree. It's a potentially useful device, offered as open source and as long as it doesn't infringe anyone's patent why not offer it as an alternative to the medical community? As someone mentioned, proning helps with pneumonia and similar.
 
An interesting range of comments. I thought there would be some about liability, but none on that.

I also realized that I cannot tell from the comments if anyone has actually looked at the device.
I can tell that some making comments have not.

Here is a link to the section on construction. Roll To Prone - Google Drive
I tried to provide all the information needed.
Any suggestions on the plans?
If someone brought that in and asked about having one made- what would your response be?
 








 
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